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The report presents a thorough summary of the economic and health risks resulting from the contamination of agricultural commodities with mycotoxins. It will be useful to persons from a number of disciplines and vocations who need to acquire a general knowledge ofmycotoxins and the adverse effects caused by their occurrence in foods and feeds. The topics covered are the effects of mycotoxins on human and animal health; their occurrence in foods and feeds, and the economic inpact; the control, management, and prevention of mycotoxins; and the detoxification of contaminated feeds. The pertinent aspects are thoroughly covered in the summary and conclusions; statements are well balanced and supported by results of research contained in tables and figures. Too often, conclusions are presented in such a summary without presenting the data upon which they are based. The report describes the latest research in the field as well as emphasizing the more important aspects of the mycotoxin problem. Structures ofmycotoxins causing concern are given in an appendix, which is useful to the novice, and to the experts who have forgotten structures not of immediate interest to them. The most controversial subject is mycotoxins in human health. The evidence for mycotoxins causing adverse effects in humans is carefully evaluated, and conclusions are well balanced. Aflatoxin has caused most concern because numerous studies on laboratory animals link it with liver cell cancers (LCC). Epidemiological studies in Africa and Asia do indicate an association between aflatoxin-contaminated foods and LCC, but results obtained before 1980 did not take into account that hepatitis B virus is also a risk factor in human cancer in the same areas. Recent data obtained in China supports the claim that in areas where aflatoxin contamination is very high, risk of developing LCC is high. However, studies in other parts of the world are inconclusive. Available scientific data obtained to date do not definitely identify aflatoxin as an etiological factor in human disease. Because of the potential hazard, regulatory agencies must treat aflatoxin-containing commodities as they would any carcinogen-containing food or feed. The section on the economic impacts of mycotoxins is one of the most comprehensive published so far. Very little information exists in the literature on the economic cost of mycotoxins. Economic losses have been documented on corn grown in the Southeast, particularly in North Carolina; an attempt may be made to extrapolate these results to corn from other areas. However, the effect of aflatoxin contamination in corn varies between areas and from year to year; so assumptions and estimations can not be easily made. Because of efforts of the USDA Peanut Marketing System and the National Peanut Council, economic losses resulting from the occurrence of aflatoxin in peanuts are more completely documented. Some information exists on economic losses in the peanut industry as far back as 1965. Significant losses have been reported in the livestock industry caused by ingestion of contaminated feed, but actual monetary losses are rarely reported. Any attempt to obtain actual financial losses due to mycotoxins is commendable, but it is often impossible.

Mr. CarmicliaeTs Essay on the Nature of Scrofula. 149 that with our present imperfect knowledge of cause and effect, nothing is more easy than boldly to charge them as parents o t e many untoward symptoms that denote any particular disease, while they only participate in common with other parts of the tramc in numerous evils arising from some general cause. The greater the obscurity in which the nature and causes of any particular disease are involved, the more boldly maj the assertion be made of that disease; scrofula therefore opens a wide field for speculation, and our author has availed himself of it with no little dexterity : it becomes us, however, to examine upon what grounds his hypothesis rests, and to bestow an attention to Mr. Carmichael s treatise, proportioned to the reputation he has already acquired, for we ought not to suffer doctrines to be promulgated by authority merely, which are not supported by facts and established by reasoning fairly deduced therefrom.
One of the most obvious requisites to a fair discussion of airy subject is a clear comprehension of the terms employed ; it becomes then an important question, what is the precise disease m( ant to be included under the name of scrofula ? Here we find ourselves much at a loss for want of a definition b}' the author, for he shifts' his ground so frequently, and takes so much for granted, which should have been proved, that we know not how to meet him.
Assuming those symptoms to be scrofula which have never yet been allowed to be so, and which we should deny to be any part of that disease, and [infering, that because these disputed symptoms appear together with certain other symptoms, they are caused by these latter, and that, as they all disappear under a certain treatment, scrofula is cured by that treatment, is a mode of reasoning neither fair nor correct, yet, upon this, and no better foundation, rest some of our author's peculiar doctrines, in the treatise before us.
Among those who have chiefly contributed to hand down and propagate errors respecting this disease, the author would place in the foremost point of view Dr. Cullcn. / " In support of this statement, it is only necessary to recollect his opinion that scrofula arises from " a peculiar acrimony of the fluids," that the disease ' rarely appears but in children whose parents had at some period of their lives been affected with itand his belief, that when it fails to appear in the children of scrofulous parents, it may discover itself afterwards in their offspring in the succeeding generations ; as also his reliance upon mineral waters, and his supposition that they produce their beneficial effects by 41 washing out the lymphatic system." We transcribe this passage to notice a mistake Mr. C. has fallen into, as to Dr. Cullen's reliance upon mineral waters, for the cure ot scrofula, and we shall let the Doctor speak for himself on this subject. " For the cure of scrofula, we have not yet learned any practice that is certainly or even generally successful. The remedy which seems to be the most successful, and which our practitioners especially trust tot and emplov, is the use ot mineral waters; and 150 Mr. CarnlichaeVs Essay on the Nature of Scrofula. and indeed, the washing out, by means of these, the lymphatic system, would seem to be a measure promising success; but in very many instances of the use of these waters, I have not been well satisfied that they had shortened the duration of the disease more than had often happened, when no such remedy had been employed."* Dr. Cullen states scrofula to be an hereditary disease, and Mr. Carmichael strongly objects to this opinion; but before we go further, let us see if Dr. Cullen and Mr. Carmichael really mean one and the same disease.
We shall give the author's own description of the disease he has been so successful in treating, and his method of cure. " In entering into a consideration of the circumstances which in children may produce disorders in the alimentary canal, it may be satisfactory to state a few cases, which prove that glandular swellings of the neck in infants are preceded and accompanied by a disordered state of the bowels ; and that the removal of the former depends upon relieving the latter. Infants on the breast and in the second year are frequently affected with swellings of the glands at the upper and lower parts of the neck, and in the axilla, which make their appearance suddenly, and increase rapidly, often to a, considerable size, until suppuration is established : when they break, or are punctured, they are difficult to heal, remain a long time open, and though at first they evince more of the phlegmonous than of the scrofulous inflammation, yet afterwards they often assume the characteristic appearances of scrofula. Having observed the connection between disorder of the prima? via; and the symptoms of scrofula, I was induced to inquire into the state of the bowels in these cases ; and I universally found that the evacuations of the child were cither green, black, or slimy, for some time previous to the occurrence of the swelling. Within the last seven months I took notes of several of these cases which occurred at St. George's Dispensary, and in private practice; and I shall transcribe a few of them, as their history must convey a clearer ide? of their nature than any general description.
"Case 1.?In the beginning of July, 1809, I was called upon to see an infant, three months old, affected with large tumours of a phlegmonous appearance on each side of the neck, immediately below the under jaw. On inquiry, I was informed that the child from her birth had never been regular in her bowels, and that her evacuations were constantly either of a green or black appearance. 1 directed a grain of calomel with six of rhubarb tci be given every second night, and ten grains ot prepared carbonate of lime, with two of carbonate of soda, every morning and evening. " This course had soon a good effect. In four or five days the evacuations became natural in appearance, the tumours were poulticed * First Lines; ? 1753, Mr. CarmichaeVs Essay on the Nature of Scrofula. t51 ticed until they broke, and in about a fortnight were peifectly healed.
"Case 2?Edraond Burke, 14 months old, was brought to St. George's Dispensary on the 21st of August, 1809, on account of a tumour, hard, red, and painful, extending under the lower jaw from one ear to the other, the commencement of which was only observed by the mother four days before. His dejections, during the preceding six weeks, wore ot a green and sometimes of a black colour. I directed emmollient poultices to the tumour, a grain of calomel, with ten of rhubarb, to be taken every second night, and fifteen grains of carbonate of lime with five of soda, o rnina; and evening. " Under this treatment, the evacuations soon exhibited a natural appearance, the tumour broke in a week, and after discharging a considerable quantity of matter, healed in a fortnight more, like any common abscess.
" I pointed out this case, as well as several others of the same description, to the attending physicians of St. George's Dispensary.
" Case 3.?William Jackson, 5 months old, wr.s brought to me on the 21st of September, 1809, with an inflammatory tumour on the left -ide of the neck, which was only observed seven days before. His mother informed me that his bowels had not been regular si. ce his birth, but that he was attacked frequently by convulsions during the last fortnight, and that his dejections were of a green colour and sour smell. lie was directed to take half a grain of calomel, with ten grains of prepared carbonate of lime, morning and evening. Tlie frequent use of the tepid saltwater bath was also enjoined, together with warm cloathing and frequent hand rubbing. Under this treatment, in a fortnight, the evacuations became perfectly natural ; about the same time the tumour broke, and soon afterwards healed without difficult . "Case 4.?I was consulted about a child, 4 months old, o^ the 5th of October, 1809, who was affected with a large swelling, similar to those already mentioned, on the left side of the neck.
She had been ordered poultices of sea-weed, by a physician of this city, I presume from an opinion of the scrofulous nature ot the tumour.
"The mother requested advice at the same time for a disordered state of the infant's bowels, which she said had never been regular since her birth : under the plan of treatment mentioned in the last case, both complaints were removed in four weeks." It certainly is no uncommon thing to meet with such phlegmonous tumours as the author describes, in young children, occompanied with a disordered state of the prhnas via; ; we have seen numerous cases of them, and have for many years treated them nearly in the same manner Mr. Carmichael recommends, but we never 152 Mr, fcarmichaeTs Essay on the Nature of Scrofula. never flattered ourselves that we had cured scrofula when these tumours suppurated and had healed ; first, because we believed scrofula to b? a disease that did not usually appear in the first months of the child's life ; and next, because real scrofula is too unmanageable a disease to be cured in two or three weeks ; scrofulous tumour* are also much more indolent than those above described, which make their appearance suddenly, and increase rapidly, and as the author justly observe^, " evince more of the phlegmonous than of the scrofulous inflammation they also appear at all seasons ot the year, and in children apparently of very different temperaments, circumstances differing materially from the characteristic appearances of scrofula; but not to rest on our own authority, let us compare this affection with the disease named scrofula by Dr. Cullen, for to the accuracy of his history and description, we presume Mr. Carmichael will not object, whatever he may think of his opinions on the nature and causes of that disease. " The scrofula gene:ally.appears at a particular period of life. It seldom appears in the first or even in the second year of a child's life; and most commonly it occurs from the second, or as some allege, and perhaps more properly, from the third to the seventh year. The scrofula generally shows itself at a particular season of the year; and at some time between the winter and summer solstice, but commonly long before the latter period. It is to be observed further, that the course of the disease is usually connected with the course of the seasons. Whilst the tumors and ulcerations peculiar to this disease, appear first in the spring, the ulcers are frequently healed up in the course of the succeeding summer, and do not break out again till the ensuing spring, to follow again with the season, the same course as before." The tumors are without pain, and without any change in the colour of the skin; in tins state; they often continue for a long time; even for a year or two, and sometimes longer: from the lime they first appeared in the spring, they often continue in this way till the return, of the same season in the next, or, perhaps, the second year after. About that time, however, or perhaps in the course of the season in which they first appear, the tumor becomes larger and more fixed ; the skin upon it acquires a purple, seldom a clear redness, but growing redder by degrees, the tumour becomes softer, and allows the fluctuation of a liquid within to be perceived. All this process, however, takes place with very little pain attending it." * We may fairly conclude, the hard red painful tumours Mr. Carmichael so easily and speedily cured, were not scrofula ; this trifling circumstance, however, is no obstacle to our author, in constructing his hypothesis, which he attempts to establish by the following argument. " But even supposing that these tumours were not in any way entitled * First Lines, ? 17-10, 174.% 174-1.
Mr. CarmichaeVs Essay on the Nature of Scrofula. 153 entitled to the name of scrofula, their connexion and dependance upon disorder of the alimentary canal, sufficiently establishes the point, that .swellings of the lymphatic glands in ay arise from, or be connected with, disorder of the digestive organs ; and this is all that is at present necessary for our purpose in tracing the symptoms ot scrofula to their source." We do not see how the admitting the connexion and dependance of those tumours upon disorders of the digestive organs, is all that is necessary to trace the symptoms of scrofula to their source, while we suppose these tumours not in any -way entitled to the name of scrofula.
Resting then upon the solidity of the above quoted argument, the author proceeds, " Having satisfied ourselves that the first symptoms of scrofula are those which denote disorder of the chylopoietic viscera, and that disorder of those parts is in eaily life frequently followed by swelling of the lymphatic glands of the neck, let us now proceed to consider the several circumstances, which in childhood precede and induce this effect." We must here observe, that zee are not satisfied of the author's position ; and lest our readers should be as little satisfied with it as ourselves, we will, by an extract from the volume before us, place the author's doctrine in a more connected point of view, and offer nerated by, disorder in the bowels." At all events, the scrofula of Mr. Carmichael differs from the scrofula of other authors, especially from the disease so called by Dr. Cullen, as we have endeavoured to show; but there yet remains one point on which we must compare our author's opinion of scrofula, and Dr. Cullen's, and that is, its being, or not, an hereditary disease. The author thinks the popular notion of scrofula being hereditary, is founded in error, and he charges Dr. Cullen with propagating this error; he says, *' in support of this statement, i? is only necessary to recollect his opinion, that scrofula arises from a peculiar acrimony of the fluidsthat the disease rarely appears but in children whose parents had at some period of their lives been affected with it. Ill this quotation, opinion is confounded with-fact; scrofula arising from a peculiar acrimony of the fluids was Dr. Cullen's opinion, its being hereditary was asserted as a matter of fact, and is only to be controverted by disproving that fact, by showing scrofula does not occur more generally in the children of scrofulous parents. Dr. Cullen's words are plain and unambiguous, and are capable of conflrmation or refutation by an appeal to experience.
The Edinburgh Journal. 1 . ^7 hi began to make its appearance, and afterwards affected near a third of their number." It certainly is against the generally received opinion that scrofula can be produced in so short a time, by *uch a cause, in habits where there does not exist hereditary predisposition ; and this appears more unlikely still, if we admit indigestion and acidities in the prima: viae to be the proximate cause, for then we should suppose causes applied immediately to the organs of digestion would be more speedily followed by their proper ef-fects; yet in the boy who ate a great quantity of manna, thereby instantly -disturbing the digestive organs, scrofula did not appear, the author informs us, till the following year. Ever since the author has been satisfied that scrofula depends upon the deranged action of the chylopoietic viscera, he has not failed, in the cases that came under his care, to make inquiries concerning the state of these organs. As a proof that his opinions are not to be overturned by trifling circumstances, we give the following quotation. " To my inquiry concerning the state of her bowels, I was informed that she was regular, but this lam inclined to doubt; for, from the view we hare taken of the effects of exercise and pure air, in promoting the action of digestive organs, I cannot thinlc it probable that digestion could have been performed with the same regularity in a young person, who was deprived of the cxcrcise and purity of air, to which she had been accustomed from her infancy." The impression that remains on our mind in closing the volume is, that the plan of treatment recommended by the author in infantile diseases, is proper and judicious, little differing from that generally adopted by medical practitioners; that its utility in the advanced stages of scrofula is at least ambiguous, further time being required to make a fair estimate of it; and that the hypothesis of scrofula depending solely upon the deranged functions of the chylopoietic viscera as its proximate cause, to the exclusion of hereditary predisposition, is not only unsupported by, but is directly contrary to the actual and acknowledged facts in the course of that disease. " It has been already observed, that in most of the cases of this disease, the individuals have been previously subject to profuse sweating, which was suddenly checked by external cold, by drinking cold liquids, or by eating acid fruits, and speedily afterwards the diabetic affection appeared. Reflecting on this circumstance, it appears very rational to conclude, that the kidney became the receptacle of this suppressed fluid, and that the sweating, not simply the perspiration, was kept up from the kidney. This revulsion, as the ancients would call it, is admitted to occur from the kidney to other organs, and the converse must be equally correct. * When the urine is not excreted, on account of some defect of the kidnies, ureters, or bladder, it has been exhaled into the skin, ventricles of the brain, or into the whole cellular fabric. The perspirable matter of Sanctorius, though so fluid, is sent oft' by the urinary passages, and by fear, or by medicines, through the excretory villi of the intestines.' (Haller's Physiology, 8th edit, p. 100.) The kidney will then have to throw oft' this sweating fluid in combination with the urine, which, from the stimulus given by this unnatural irritation, would be secreted in greater quantity; and to this stimulus the urinary organs cannot become habituated, as it is to be supposed it will be subject to the same variation as the cuticular discharge, sometimes being mild, at other times irritating; and on this principle, the constant irritation of the urinary passage?, and the phymosis, may be explained, in consequence of this increased action, the circulation in the kidnpy will be quickened ; a greater supply of blood will be required.
Hence the stomach is called into inordinate action, and the demand for food proportionably increased ; the appetite becomes craving; it is no sooner gratified than digestion hastily commences ; chyme is formed, from which the chyle is quickly separated ; but from the urgent demand of the kidney, it cannot be completely formed into blood, and in consequence, passes into the kidney with the blood, and there mixing with the urine, givps to it the saccharine quality; thus we may explain the bulimia, dyspepsia, and sweetness of urine. ' Hence the increased celerity of the blood so easily forces the red globules through these tubes,. (uriniferous t''bes) and, by morbid relaxation, they transmit the true fat and the chyle, and the salts of the meat and drink.' (Haller, p. 385.) Whilst this increased action is kept up in the kidney, every successive increase of debility in any other organ, will throw the more on the kidney. The stomach suffers first, being kept in constaut action, and irritated by the gastric juice, which the con-stat^ The Edinburgh Journal.

159
?slant sense of hunger calls into this cavity ; and the more action required from this organ, the quicker must be the circulation i iro it ; and if the supply of blood be not adequate, and the balance preponderate in favour of the kidney, the stomach must suner doubly by the irritation of the gastric juice, and the want of support, which at last render it unable to digest its contents, and the patient dies from inanition." It frequently happens, that the most obvious and insurmountable objections to an hypothesis escape the notice of its framer; and we are apt to think this has been the case with Ur. Clarke : we trust, therefore, he will excuse our pointing out a circumstance or two which make against his opinions, and of which we must sea an explanation before we can become converts to this new theory ; for however ingeniously it is supported by its author, it yet appears liable to some difficulties and doubts, which we should thank Dr. Clarke to answer. If the increased flow of urine, in the first instance, is merely a vicarious discharge; if nothing but the " sweating fluid" is sent to the kidneys, to be thrown off by them in combination with the urine, we see no possible source of mischief, nor can we allow that any unnatural irritation is thereby produced, < the two fluids being so exactly similar, we may almost say idontically the same; if also wfi suppose urine to be secreted in greater quantity, we should not expect the constant irritation of the urinary passages and phymosis to be referable to this circumstance, since we should apprehend these symptoms would rather take place from a greater concentration of that fluid than from its increased quantity and greater dilution.
Admitting the increased action of the kidnies to take place, we do not see why a greater supply of blood will be required for the system, so that the stomach must be called into inordinate action, and the desire for food proportionably increased, without time being allowed for its complete formation into blood. Were this true, the same effect must follow from any excessive discharge or waste oi blood from the system ; in weakness produced.from haemorrhages, lor instance, a greater supply ot blood will be required , and if the demand for it is too urgent to allow sufficient time for the complete conversion of the chyle into blood, the chyle must bo hurried through the circulation into the kidnies, for by that souice most fluid matters not converted into blood are discharged, and diabetes would be produced. In extensive local inflammation?, of whatever description, there is increased action, and the circulation in the part is quickened, a greater supply of blood to the part is therefore required ; yet we do not find the stomach called into inordinate action, nor the demand for food increased. The stomach being irritated by the gastric juice, which the constant sense of hunger calls into the stomach, is certainly a novel idea, but perhaps not a very just one. Wherein resides this sense of hunger ? and how it is produced? The converse of the proposition may be M 4 true' / |60 The Edinburgh Journal.
rue, and the constant sense of hunger be produced by the presence of the gastric juice* perhaps in a vitiated state from some disease of the secreting organs.
The treatment to be pursued in adopting this theory, is thus detailed. " In the commencement of this disease, every thing should be done to turn the cuticular discharge into its proper course; this is to be effected by bleeding, the warm bath, and the administration of nauseating doses of tartarised antimony, ipecacuanha, and other medicines that possess the power of acting on the skin, without proving diuretic. Thus, the acetite and nitrate of potash would be bad medicines in this case. This treatment is to be assisted by a spaie diet of animal and vegetable food. Having thus restored the natural secretion to the skin, nothing more remains than to moderate it, and to adopt the prophylactic measure, to prevent a recurrence of the same disease. But should this plan not succeed, and the disease baffles our means, it must be considered chronic, and now depending 011 a laxity or debility of the extreme vessels in the kidney; which opinion, the appearance of the kidney, and the state of the blood vessels, tend very much to confirm. It is then to be treated by astringents, tonics, blisters to the loins, the warm bath, and nourishing diet." Next follows an interesting ease of Ilemicrania, which proved fatal. Upon dissection there was discovered in the posterior lobe of the cerebrum a hard tumour, which measured, after the contents had been evacuated, in length two inches, in breadth one inch and a half, and in depth one inch and a quarter; it was firmly attached to the tentorium.
Dr. Clarke speaks of the advantage of a clear diagnosis between tumour in the brain and hemicrania ; we should' rather say, in cases of hemicrania it would be very desirable to ascertain if it depends upon organic disease of the brain ; for whether there is a tumour or not, the symptoms still constitute hemicrania, of which the cause may be various.
Two ca<es are then given, in which Dr. Clarke's treatment appears to have been very judicious, and was attended with success.
They are denominated Cases of Water in the Brain; but some doubts may reasonably be entertained if water was nctual/y contained within the brain, especially in the case fust described, since the symptoms are equivocal, and not decidedly diagnostic of that affection. The same observation applies to the next and last case contained in this Report, A Case of Dropsy in the Pericardium.
In ca.-es of siit ii ambigur.us nature as these, conjecture is often the utmost we can attain to, and'our treatment must be founded rather upon experience of*what-has' beeli found useful in similar cases, than deduced from our actual knowledge of the real nature of the disiase. Dr. Alderson, while he allows the belief in ghosts, spectres, and apparitions to be well founded, has endeavoured to controvert the popular opinion of their existence depending upon supernatural agency, by bringing forward several instances where such appearances were to be accounted for by natural causes only, from some bodily disease in the persons by whom these spectres were seen. It is foreign to our purpose to enter into any metaphysical disquisitions ; we may only observe, that in those cases he mentions, where a deceptio visus was produced by a temporary disorder of the animal functions, we will readily allow such appearances to have been fallacious, and the offspring of a distempered imagination.
But this negative evidence is necessarily confined to those inindividuals mentioned. Dr. Aldcrson's explanation will go far to diminish the actual number of supernatural appearances ; but the possibility of such an occurrence, or even the existence of it, cannot be completely overturned, unless he is prepared to disprove relations which have hitherto been considered as perfectly true and authentic. Have not some of these spectres, whether real or imaginary, occasionally uttered prophetic predictions, which have been afterwards reali-ed ? If we deny the reality of the spectre, we must allow the existence of a degree of prescience in the individual, which it is no less difficult to explain. Dr This paper contains a good description of the epidemic dysentery, as it appeared at the Cape of Good Hope. The treatment at first was very unsuccessful, founded upon the stimulant plan of the Brunonian system. Calomel was at length given to the patients, at first sparingly, and afterwards more freely.
" It was constantly observed; that the crises of the disease were accelerated by the calomel." The sequela: of the diseasd were principally suppuration of the liver, induration of that viscus, and chronic diarrhoea. The Author mentions it as a remarkable fact, that the Hottentots aca. .... The Edinburgh Journal.
customed fo the climate, suffered much in the array, although better clothed, better fed, and more cleanly than in their agricultural occupations; while those who Jcmained in the employment of the colonists, exposed to all ,thc unwholesome weather, undergoing much fatigue, and being badly fed, were much less affected by the epidemic. Art. 4. tt Case of Herpes Exedens Vermiculatus. By A. B. Gren ? yille, M. D. Surgeon to his Majesty's Sloop Arachne.
This at first was a very troublesome and obstinate disease. Dr.
Grenvilie produced a similar ulcer in a distant pa^t by inoculation with the discharge. On examining a drop or two of the pus by an excellent compound microscope, he discovered in that fluid " a swarm of insects, of various length and size, and differently agitated." 44 The .cause of this scabies being now plausibly discovered, the therapeutic indication readily occurred to my mind. The sores were washed with diluted nitrous acid, for three consecutive mornings, and cerate applied, to defend them from external irritation. On the first of November they were anointed with ung. hydrarg. with which the cure of both the original and artificial eruption was finally obtained, within the space of another week. No allowance of spirits or wine was granted to the patient during his illness ; and though entirely local, I frequently administered sweet acidulated bei'erages, and a grain of opium at night to fapiliate rest." Art. 5. ? Reply to Mr. Good lad's Observations on Mr. Barlows Theory " On the Origin of Urinary Calculi." By James Barlow, Surgeon. In this Reply, Mr. Barlow endeavours to justify his former opinions, and to obviate some objections, and what he conceiyes to be misapprehensions on the part of Mr. Goodlad. The whole matter in dispute must be left to the parties themselves, who, most probably, as generally happens in controversies, will each retain his own opinion, unconvinced by the arguments of his opponent. Art. 6. ? Convenient Method of constructing a Steam Bath, with an Account of its Effects in a Case of Gastritis. By William Forbes, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in London.
It is here proposed to convey steam by means of a tube connmunicating with a common tea kettle, and inserted into an aperture at the bottom of a slipper bath, in which the patient is to be placed ; all the advantages of a warm bath may in this way be obtained, and more speedily than by heating sufficient water in which to immerse the body. Great relief was obtained by this bath in the case of Gastritis related, but the cure was effected by bleeding aii dcliquium on the eighth day of the disease. The Inquirer, No. 1<?. After a fair and candid comparative view of the advantages anddisadvantages, as to his means of improvement in the situation of a Naval trary, a limited practice is most favourable for reflection and professional improvement. A multitude of patients only serves to distract the student, and to confound him ; and the remarkable cases, which he may never again meet with, attract his whole attention, and lead,him to neglect those common diseases, which, in future, To this Mr. Brown replies, " Far from regretting that I did not communicate with the medical gentlemen at Haddington, before 1 mentioned in my book that such cases had occurred there, I have daily reason to congratulate myself on the opinion I had formed of the extensive and alarming effects of system on the human mind ; for had I done so, and afterwards'had been regulated by the information I would certainly have received, undoubtedly no such opinions "would have been promulgated, and which I now find many very respectable characters, both in and out of the profession, consider as entitled to attention and respect." We think it unnecessary to enter minutely into a consideration ?f the main question; we would rather leave the decision of it to fair and candid discussion and future experience. We do not expect Mr, Brown's books to make many converts; defective arguments seldom derive much real strength from warmth of languaee, and personal abuse generally fails to operate conviction on the mind of an opponent. If Mr. Brown is perfectly satisfied of the justness of his own opinions, and is only solicitous for the public welfare, we do not see why he should be so very angry that the favourers of vaccination do not enter the lists against him, and defend what he thinks an untenable doctrine ; or why he should complain, when speaking of the National Vaccine Board, that lie perceives in their conduct a design to allow the facts themselves lilently and gradually to produce the extinction of the practice," *eeing the " extinction of the practice" is the sole object he pro>f Jesses to have in view.
A Memoir on the Physiology of the Egg-Read before the Linnean Society of London, by j. A. Fauis, M. B. Physician to the Westminster Hospital. London, 1810. This interesting and philosophical Essay commences with a few cursory observations on the opinion that all animal and vegetable productions proceed from eggs or seeds.
: " The Dr. Paris, on the Physiology of the Egg. i6* \ ** The extensive range which the Ovipari form in the scale of animated existence, renders the organization and developcment of the Egg, a subject of great interest to the naturalist, whilst the hope of ascending to the source of vitality, by contemplating life at a period when the number and complication of its functions are the fewest, becomes a powerful inducement to the physiologist, to pursue the investigation; hence we find, that the philosophers of every age and nation have devoted much time and labour to this inquiry ; but unfortunately for the earlier promotion of science, the influence of chemical powers in the scheme of animal life has but lately been duly appreciated ; many beneficial results, however, have already attended this discovery, and the most exhausted topics of natural history have assumed new and unexpected aspects. The author therefore of this memoir, may reasonably hope to escape the cen-?ure which must otherwise have awaited the adventurer who could presume to beat the field, which has before been so ably explored by the indefatigable and united labours of Fabricius ab aqua-pendentc, Harvey, Malpighi, Spallanzani, Hunter, and others equally illustrious.
" A powerful phalanx of philosophers maintain, with much plausibility, that the Egg* is the universal womb of nature, and that oviparous differ only from 'viviparous animals, by the latter breaking their bondage before they escape from the parent. Concerning the truth however of this /opinion, which is comprehended in the popular aphorism, 4 oirmia ex ovo or the success with which the eloquent Count de Buffon has levelled his shafts against the partisans of the ovular + system, I will leave to be decided by abler disputants. The observations which I beg to submit to your notice, do not involve either theory, but are connected only with those animals that are oviparous, in the common acceptation of the term? that is, who deposit a germ to be developed by causes totally independent ?J parental influence as such. ' Amongst the countless multitudes and varieties of animals, a very small proportion only produce living offspring ; thus the immense tribes of birds, fishes, amphibious animals, and insects, with comparatively \ few exceptions, propagate their species by the intervention * Egg, the word ovum seems to be derived from the Greelc word otovf solitarium, because (unlike most uteri) it produces but one offspringt The system of the Ovarists has been preierred by Harvey, Steno, Malpighi, Valisnieri, Dulamel, Nuck, Littre, Swainmerdam, Halier, Spallanzani, Bonnet, &c. J Some fish are viviparous, E. G. Murana Anguilla. or Eel; Blcnmui F iyiparous, &c. Amongst the Amphibia, we may notice the riper, v~ >'<-* brings forth its young alive, and hence probably derives its name,^ quo*, vivum pariatSpallanzani consideis also the production of trogs at rather ol a viviparous than oviparous nature; this rudiment how tier the future animal, certainly partakes as much of the nature ol an egs; as canals, which open into the amnios or cicatricula, and send out their roots into the white, for the purpose of forming a communication between them ; Munro however observes, that, " if they be canals, they cannot have the least communication with the cavity in which the chick resides, at any time, or in any state of the egg, otherwise than as they are both adhering to the membrane of the vitellus, upon which, or within which, no particular fibres, no canals, are stretched to the cicatricula." The chalazce, says Harvey, appear to be the poles of the microcosm, and serve to connect the different parts of the egg, and to retain them in their due position ; in addition to such an officc, Denham ingeniously conjectures that as they divide the yolk into two distinct and unequal hemispheres, they will preserve the cicatricula (let the position of the egg be what it may), in the same situation; for sincc the cha* ia zee are specifically lighter than the white, the yolk is kept buoyant, and the cicatricula, as it resides in the smaller hemisphere, will be always uppermost; this, in my opinion, is the true theory of their use, for such a structure will not only preserve the cicatricula from the dangers of concussion, but by regulating its distance from the source of heat, it will ensure to it a more completely uniform temperature than could otherwise happen, and which is so essential to the evolution of the animal, that the smallest irregularity overthrows the nice balance of the different actions that are to mature it, and produces fatal effects. So solicitous therefore was nature to rescue the germ from the consequences of cold, that she has ordained other provisions, which seem equally as effective as the cbalaza for the preservation of its proper temperature; thus the cicatriada is on all sides surrounded by fluids, which are feeble conductors of caloric, these must therefore powerfully retard the escape of heat, and prevent the destructive chills which the occasional absence of the parent might otherwise induce. The eggs of ? Pigeons, for example, whose crops John Hunter ascertained to sesrete a peculiar fluid during the breeding season, for the sustenance oi their vonns.